Bitcoin

Global Cryptocurrency Market is Now Bigger Than Uber, Airbnb, Xiaomi

Antonio Madeira | May 22, 2017 | 10:30

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The global cryptocurrency market cap has now blown through that of famous startups like Uber , Didi Chuxing, Airbnb, Xiaomi, and many others.

Global Cryptocurrency Market cap

As Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies gain traction throughout the world, more money keeps pouring from traditional markets into the cryptosphere. Breaking record highs during the weekend, Bitcoin, Ethereum and others have grown to unprecedented values, adding roughly $25 billions to the global crypto market cap in the last two days.

Currently sitting just under $80 billion, the global cryptocurrency market cap has now blown through that of famous startups like Uber ($68B), Didi Chuxing ($50b), Airbnb ($31B), Xiaomi ($46B), and many others.

Although there is still a long way to go to reach the value of giants like Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, this marks a significant milestone in the cryptocurrency progress.

The continuous rally in the crypto markets is believed to be mostly connected to the recent Japanese law, in which cryptocurrencies are considered as legal payment methods exempt of consumer tax. Not only that but in the midst of political uncertainty and as the traditional market continues to plummet, investors are looking for safe-haven properties that are often provided by gold and now by cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Moreover, Bitcoin and altcoins are completely new to most average investors and represent a certain level of technical challenge. However, cryptocurrencies are actually much easier and cheaper to access than the traditional market. Buying stock in these startups is no easy task, as opposed to buying Bitcoin or altcoins, which is also a driving factor in the cryptocurrency rally.

As one Reddit user noted:

People are constantly whining about how hard it is to buy Bitcoin, but try buying into an IPO for one of those startups or just shares off the market. It’s not impossible, but it’s not cheap and it’s not easy. Relatively, crypto has a very low barrier of entry and you can trade as little or as much as you want. There’s no substantial minimum trade cost and fees are near enough to zero to have no impact.

Bitcoin Dominance

In the last month, the cryptocurrency landscape has changed drastically, gathering over $40 billion in market cap and doubling in size In time, Bitcoin has been losing its share of the crypto market at an accelerating rate.

Even though Bitcoin is still the “top dog” with a market dominance of roughly 46%, the change in market cap distribution represents an important shift in the cryptocurrency scene, one that may not be great for Bitcoin itself, but that is certainly great for the cryptocurrency market as a whole.

Bitcoin is likely to remain the leader in terms of coin market cap, given its broader application as a currency (and not as an appcoin or asset) and the relative advantages it has over other currencies such as security, immutability, and decentralization.

However, this change demonstrates that investors are becoming more knowledgeable about blockchain technology in general. Additionally, many newcomers are probably also investing in alternative cryptocurrencies with the hopes of catching the next wave after failing to buy bitcoin for double and even triple digit prices. 

Lastly, this shift in dominance may also be connected to the pressing capacity issues that Bitcoin is facing, preventing it from keeping up the growth of other coins that have yet to face their own scaling challenges down the road.

Paradigm Shift or Bubble?

Although this unprecedented rally is certainly a reason for excitement, many members of the community have voiced their concerns regarding the possibility that we are currently experiencing a bubble similar to the one experienced in 2013, which as we all know, had disastrous results.

Some are even comparing the current Poloniex situation with Mt.Gox back then, given the recent suspicion that Poloniex is manipulating the markets, an idea that isn’t so far-fetched since Poloniex comprises the majority volume on the most valuable altcoins.

The cryptocurrency surge presents signs that can be interpreted from multiple sides. While it is possible to present logical and compelling arguments for many theories, the truth is that cryptocurrencies are a completely new asset class. In other words, no one can predict how this nascent market will behave, especially in the information and internet age. 

One thing is certain, however, there is still a long way to go to reach mainstream adoption. Therefore, we could just be getting starting.

To give you an idea, the current global cryptocurrency market cap would have to grow tenfold to reach that of Apple. While Bitcoin itself would have to be worth roughly $46,000 USD to have the same marketcap as Apple or roughly $700 billion.

What do you think? Are we in a bubble? Will Bitcoin lose its position as the top cryptocurrency? Share your views on the comment section!

Images courtesy of coinmarketcap, Shutterstock